2.06.2016

WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE STILL IN PRISON?

James Schuman and Parents.
His mother has just been told she has
6 months to live.

Parents not long to live, these men want most to be with them in their last days.

Scott Howard and James Schuman are both in their 60’S and long ago rehabilitated.
They both have ailing parent and their most earnest desire is to be with them
in their last days. James Schuman just learned his mother has 6 months to live.

We did an application for
compassionate release for three deserving Old Law prisoners and were denied with the
statement that there is no compassionate release for old law prisoners, they
just go to their parole board. There is an executive directive that
specifically says otherwise. Here are the three:

Petition for Nancy Ezell

Nancy
was convicted on a non violent drug charge 15 years ago, is 62 years
old now. She is very ill , with a heart conditions and other
impairments. She is on oxygen and being housed in conditions that cause
her much pain and stress.
View our compassionate release application for her and 2 others.

11)Terrance
Shaw has been in prison for 32 years, for murder. He is a Viet Nam veteran
and now knows he had PTSD when he committed his crime and still works
at controlling the symptoms, is model prisoner and has been offered
treatment at the VA Hospital and a job mentoring others after treatment
is finished- he must be released first.

12 )Ron Schilling:Born In 1951, Ron Schilling is now 64 and has been
incarcerated since 1976, 39 plus years. Ron
was granted parole by Leonard Wells until he became victim of the new tough on
crime rhetoric that also cost Leonard Wells his job. Since then he has been back and
forth from minimum to medium and is transferred without a word on why and is convinced
there is retaliation going on.Here is what his social worker said:

"Mr Schilling has a keen mind and a good heart. If he
is not a successful candidate for

restoration
to the community, then no one on my caseload could possibly be!"

B.ORDERED DEPORTED BUT ARE STILL HERE.It is an incredible fact that we have many prisoners from other
countries who were eligible for parole many years ago and we ordered deported
back to their homeland upon release. Why are we holding them? Families are
waiting for them in their own country. Here are two:

Jose Garcia:incredibly, this man and next could have been
deported as soon as he reach parole eligibility and here he sits along with
many other who want nothing more that to return to their home countries

We now know the
injustice of sentencing a child to life in prison and the supreme Court
is deciding crucial issues on this matter.. The brain is physically not
developed to think long term, to understand consequences. There are many prisoners in WI who were sentenced as youngsters and received
incredibly long sentences- many need to get back to court to get
sentences reduced. Others just need parole. These petitions will help
build public pressure . Please sign.

Was a juvenile when He committed his crime. He foolishly
fired into the air trying to stop a fight . This incited not the quiet he hoped
for, but mayhem and someone was killed. Andre was severely depressed when first
in prison and is not a changed man. His fiance awaits him and he deserves a
second chance-

Latest campaign update 2 14:
Andre asks if we are fighting for his release in our old law
campaign. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole at the age
of 16. The answer is YES- juveniles sentenced under these unjust law
will also finally get fair hearing. See our juvenile blog for latest
supreme court rulings on juveniles.

" As you already know, I am a parole eligible lifer who entered the system as a juvenile. However, my parole eligibility date was extended. Therefore I'm considered an old/new law prisoner. The "new law" aspect comes into play because in 1989 the law which had parole eligibility dates set at 13 years and
8 months for individuals sentenced to life was changed. That change
gave judges the ability to set parole eligibility dates to wherever they
saw fit. Needless to say, in 9 cases out of 10, one sentenced to life got his parole eligibility date extended well past the aformentioned standard of 13/8.

And so, in 1992 (at the age of 16) I was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole until the year 2037. My question to you is this. Are prisoners like me included in this "old law/parole eligible" campaign? Or, are
you all looking for specific old law prisoners? My hope is that the
campaign DOES, in fact apply to all old law, parole eligible prisoners, regardless of sentence structure. Should that be the case, please accept this letter on behalf of all the old law or old/new law lifers in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections."

Tommie
Thames was 17 years old when he was waived into adult court. He and a
friend had been drinking and plying with gun in the basement. The gun
went off, killing the friend and Tommie frantically tried to hide the
body. It is 21 years later- can we give him a second chance? Tommie's story and Parole decision and in pdf file.

E. Solitary confinement torture:

13)Luis Ramirezurgently needs help. He
has been stuck in seg forever ,was released briefly to general and did what
prisoners call "Snapped out",stabbed a guard with a pencil. the guard
was back at work the next day and Luis says he blacked out and does not
remember the incident. He is back in seg with pending criminal charges. We are
calling for release on parole , where he would do well with his family OR a
transfer to Mendota Mental Health Clinic- away from vicious cycle in the
DOC. WE also ask for an investigation. He is convicted of armed robbery where
no one was hurt. Because he harms himself in seg he is perpetually given new
conduct reports and because he is there, he is not allowed the programming he
needs. Help us get him out of this terrible cycle the prison has made him
mentally ill. Read and sign the petition please.Plea for Treatment and Parole for Luis Ramirez

in prison so far for 28 years, for armed
robbery in which no violence occurred. He is 61, has exemplary record, received a
parole recommendation in 2011 which was later denied.At 61 years old, the national recidivism rate also reflects
minimal (0>1%) risk of committing new crimes.view parole decision as pdf file

Kim Szemborski with person he hopes to make a life with once out.

Reasons for
denial:"Insufficient time for punishment" and "Unreasonable risk to

community;" reason given
for parole grant denial and 12-month deferment, "still needs supervised placement in
community with no
conduct issues before release consideration."

GENERAL REASONS FOR ACTION TAKEN

1.You have developed an adequate plan, but will need Agent's verification.

2.Your institutional conduct has been satisfactory.

3.Your program participation has been satisfactory.

4.Release at this time would involve an unreasonable risk to the public.

5.You have NOT served sufficient time for punishment.

_________________________________________

Verlin H. Walker, #171948

Verlin walker as part of the PDCI sand bagging crew

Verlin Walker 171948

Marshall E. Sherrer Correctional
Center

1318 N. 14th Street

Milwaukee, WI 53205-2596

Another
man granted parole by the commissioner and then denied by the parole
chairman. This man has had many work release jobs, was a fork lift
driver in Seneca and is a saw operator for Midwest Metals today. He has
had access to people keys in his work and at one point drove 80 miles to
his job form the prison. What are we waiting for???

He was
recommended for parole by parole commissioner but this was denied by Dean
Stensberg, Parole Chairman, and defer was increased to 9 months.(3/15 grant
recommendation). He has long been on work release and has had many job
offers-has impressive list of accomplishments.
Why is this man still in prison?

I have been publishedin THE UPPER ROOM & a poetry anthology
entitled WARRIOR POETS.. And just last month

I sent my very first
book to a publisher:E-Couragement from
a Prisoners Pen.

Paragraph regarding
self:

"For the most part my coming of age in prison has
led to my actually LIKING who I AM! See my crime stemmed. from my not being ok
with my natural identity (NERD). Yeah that's me! So as a NERD 4 Jesus I'm ok
with being picked on & ostracized.
Now I can keep going in the face of my peers taunts of "stop acting
white..." Yes,it's ok to be Black &
smart. Praise God. So,all these many years later here I AM embodying the Judges advice to "use your God-given intelligence to go farin life."

Rufus West; "Lutalo" 225213
Green Bay Correctional Institution
PO Box 19033
Green Bay, WI 54307
Lutalo is one of the thousands of Milwaukee Blacks who were swept into
prison at the height of the prison boom. He was given his harsh sentence
as an " habitual criminal" after being charged with stealing a purse.
Later, he was sent to the Supermax after testifying in court to the
abuse and death of a prisoner near him. He won a lawsuit against that
establishment and that lawsuit caused the discontinuing of one of their
more egregious policies. He has transformed himself , works constantly
for justice and is an inspiration for many. He has been an important
counselor for FFUP.
See his blog:/http://vanguardsofjustice.blogspot.com/

age-43 / DOB 9-13-71 / arrested
8-8-94 Convicted of 1 count of armed robbery and possession of a firearm by
felon. The victim was not physically injured. I was sentenced to 2002 or 2003.
I've had maybe 4 or5 parole hearings since then. The parole board has denied me
parole for the same cookie cutter reasons: "Your institutional conduct has
not been satisfactory, your program participation has not been satisfactory;
releaseat this time would involve an
unreasonable risk to the public; you have not served sufficient time for
punishment." It seems like the longer I'm in prison gives the POC more
time to impose new programs on me right around the time when I'm eligible for
camp or parole. I've completed all of the programs that I was initially given
during my 1st few years in prison. In other words, it appears as though I'll be
forced to do programs up until the day I'm released, whether I need the program
or not.

Kept in prison for bogus run around
reasons-

Randall Toth 180498
RGCI;PO Box 925;Red Granite, WI 54970
Randall was sentenced to life in 1999 for first degree homicide,
which then meant, with good behavior, he would be released on parole
after 13 and 1/2 years. Has completed all the required programming he
can get into, however there is no AODA programming at the prison he is
it and he was denied the bakery vocational program. He has completed
many voluntary programs and has 30 college credit under his belt. He has
strong family support .

Harlan
Richard's crime was unpremeditated and will never be repeated. He is
60 and has been in prison for 30 years.. He has continuously shown
himself to be is a man deeply spiritual and an asset to all those
around him. He writes beautiful poetry -recommended reading:

I was involved in a spontaneous fight in 1984 where I stabbed a much larger man to death.He attacked me without provocation. I was sentenced to life in prison at aged 30 and have spent 32 Years in Prison. I spent
8 1/2 years in maximum security and 9 years in medium security. I
obtained a bachelor of science degree in business administration from UW Platteville majoring in marketing in December 1997. I
completed anger management in 1994.

In 2002, I transferred to minimum security and in 2005

I transferred to a work release center. I
spent 19 months on work release. In 2008, the parole commission increased my defer based on my current offense and prior
criminal record and sent me back to a minimum security prison. In 2010, I
received a shorter
defer and returned to a work release center where I drove a state van unescorted over 30,000
miles throughout north­western Wisconsin.

In 2011, the parole commission again increased my defer based solely on my current offense and
prior criminal record and I was returned to medium security where I have been housed since January 2011.

reasons for parole denial:Unreasonable risk to the public and have

not served sufficient time for punishment.

San Golden Gilbert 299928; OCI, Po Box 938, Oregon, WI 53575

San golden Gilbert with Fiance' Elexis and her daughter
Click on link below to read their story, in Elexis' words.

Born in 1987, is now 37. Was sentenced to 40 years for armed robbery, party to a
crime. No shots were fired, No one hurt. He has served 15 of those , He was
parole eligible first in 2009. Here he is with his fiance' Elexis
and her daughter. He has full family support.
Coming: radio interview with his mother

Born 1972, is now 42 . He received a 30 year sentence for a nonviolent drug offence;
has been in 16 years so far. He worked under work release
for over three years, is still denied parole. Here is his statement:

“ I am
well into my 16th year of incarceration on a 30 sentence for a
non-violent drug offense (POCS w/ITD
- cocaine). I have been minimum security-status four 4 1/2 years. From November
5, 2010 to May 20, 2013 I worked outside of the prison in society under work release/community
custody/indirect supervision status. During that time period I saw the parole
board 7 times (two-6 month defers & five-5 month defers) and was denied parole each time.

At
the time of my last hearing in February of 2013 I had been working in society without incident for 28 months, but was denied
parole for reasons stated that I had not served enough time and that my release at this time would present an
unreasonable risk to the community. I asked the parole commissioner 'How much
time is enough?' and she stated that
she 'Did not know.' I asked her 'How can they justify claiming that I am a risk to society when I have been working in
society around civilians for 28 months?'
She was unable to answer this.

While
it is true that I was on parole at the time of my arrest, it is also true that
this is unmitigatable factor, meaning that there is no way to alter or mitigate
this fact. So if I did my entire 30 year sentence the fact that I was on parole
when arrested would still be true. There aren't any institutional programs
that I can take to negate/nullify this fact. This was just being
used as a convenient factor to deny me parole. And still is.”

I have been incarcerated since the age of sixteen for a crime I committed nineteen years
ago with two other teenagers. In March of 1995, we went to the house of a man who was known to be in
possession of marijuana Our intention was to rob him of the drug but the
evening did not turn out the way any of us would’ve imagined.

.Akili El-Amin was born in 1773 and is now 41. He was convicted
as juvenile in 1990 for 1st degree intentional homicide w/armed W dangerous
weapon:Life sentence, so he has been parole eligible since 2004. He has had 12
defers, each one with reason give that he had not served enough time for
punishment. His family is waiting for
him.

“We send people to prison to rehabilitate them and we have to believe that process is real and possible, for even some of the worst offenders. Ultimately, if we don’t believe in redemption, we don’t believe in America” —levis Smiley

Zong Lor is Hmong/ Asian American.
Born IN 1980, he is 34 and has been incarcerated since 1999. Was 18 years old
at arrest and a gang member. Record in Prisoner has been excellent and has
satisfies all program needs. Was given a 48 month defer at last hearing and has
no idea why

Anthony Cook was born in 1973, and
is now 41. He was convicted in 1994 of attempted homicide and armed robbery.
Has done all programming he is allowed and is told he cannot complete it until
he is 18 months from Mandatory release date. Has been eligible for parole since
2003 and has seen the parole board 11 times. His story is below:

This blog is a companion to our Parole web page. Wisconsin has 2887 prisoners who are eligible for parole but are denied year after year. We are part of a campaign to see that these people get a second chance. They are all long past their parole dates. We want to spread the message loud and clear that people DO Change. Below are some of the stories and profiles of the many people stuck in a broken and wasteful system.